Key Takeaways:
- The Iranian regime has turned the Ayatollah’s funeral into a parade of propaganda, celebrating his oppressive reign while also projecting strength at home and around the world. As part of this propaganda campaign, Iran has brought in several Western influencers to document the event for massive social media followings.
- These influencers, a veritable who’s who of anti-Israel and anti-American internet personalities, have been busy pushing pro-Iranian propaganda while also calling for the destruction of the United States and Israel.
- These influencers are not only betraying their home countries and the democratic West from which they come, but they are also betraying the thousands of Iranians recently murdered at the hands of the Iranian regime and the millions of Iranians yearning to live in freedom.
For some influencers and internet personalities, the hottest event in the world right now is not the World Cup or Taylor Swift’s wedding, it’s the week-long funeral for the former Iranian despot, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
That’s right. A small cadre of Western influencers has flown to the Islamic Republic to cover the funeral for one of the most brutal tyrants of the 21st century, whose 35-year reign saw the increased repression of the Iranian people and the destabilization of the Middle East by terror groups loyal to the Ayatollah and his fundamentalist ideology.
And these influencers are not covering the funeral as objective observers, reporting back to their large followings on the propagandic pageant that has been put on full display by the Islamic regime. Rather, they are active participants in the regime’s propaganda, part of a campaign by the Islamic Republic to sway Western audiences and change perceptions about Iran.
According to a recent report, the Iranian government brought in 400 bloggers and influencers to the Ayatollah’s funeral for this specific purpose, using them as propaganda tools on behalf of the Islamic Republic’s image.
Some of these influencers, particularly those from the West, have proven themselves only too eager to be used as tools by the Iranian regime, enthusiastically extolling the virtues of the Islamic Republic and the late Ayatollah while at the same time denouncing the United States and Israel as enemies of humanity.
Among the most prominent Western participants were:
- Max Blumenthal, who has made a career of defending every repressive regime under the sun and spreading baseless conspiracies about the Jewish state;
- Calla Walsh, a Gen Z activist and Congressional staffer turned Beirut-based terror groupie and Islamic Republic mouthpiece;
- Jackson Hinkle, an influencer known for spreading Russian propaganda, anti-Israel libels, and opposition to the West on his social media accounts;
- Bushra Shaikh, an influencer and television personality who recently took part in two state-sponsored tours of Iran and who publishes content that whitewashes the Islamic Republic’s repression of its own citizens;
- Tadhg Hickey, an Irish comedian whose social media is full of anti-Zionist (sometimes bordering on the antisemitic) rhetoric and Islamic Republic talking points.
Over the past few days, these propagandists have been using their popular online presences to spread a rosy image of the late Ayatollah and the current Islamic regime while also denigrating and even calling for the downfall of the United States and Israel. For the Americans in this group, this means openly calling for the destruction of their home country while visiting an enemy state.
On X, Blumenthal described the funeral as “one of the most resonant moments in the history of anti-imperialist movements” and tried to make the repressive Islamic Republic attractive to his followers by giving them “backstage access” to a rally of regime supporters, taking part in a drumming circle, and interviewing allegedly random Iranians about their hatred for the U.S. government but not for the American people.
Walsh appeared in several propaganda films, celebrating the Ayatollah as “the greatest anti-imperialist leader” to have lived during her 22 years, calling for the exporting of the Islamic Revolution’s ideals to the West, interviewing the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, and chanting “Death to America” in Persian.
Walsh wasn’t the only person to openly call for the destruction of their home country. Jackson Hinkle also led a rally of regime supporters in a rousing call of “Down with USA” (alongside “Down with Zionists”). Ironically, Hinkle still considers himself an “American patriot.”
Like Hinkle, Hickey also led Iranians in a chant calling for the downfall of Israel (this time, “Death to Israel” in Persian). In addition, Hickey posted a video of him jumping on an Israeli flag mural (titled “Keeping fit in Iran”) and stated at a conference that “Iran is the model, an independence mentality, a resistance economy, and standing up for the oppressed people even if it hurts.” At the same time, with little self-awareness, Hickey refused to comment on Iran’s internal politics, presumably not wanting to upset his Iranian patrons with uncomfortable comments on human rights and freedom.
To round out this ragtag bunch of oppression groupies, have a look at Bushra Shaikh’s popular social media presence, where she compared the Ayatollah to the pope (presenting him as a spiritual leader and ignoring the oppressive state apparatus that he controlled), referred to the Ayatollah as a “true leader – a hero,” and creating the impression that the Iranian people support the Islamic Republic, disregarding the popular protests that took place just months before.
The funeral for Ayatollah Khamenei has been a carefully curated affair, exhibiting the Islamic Republic’s strength domestically while also using the opportunity to spread a pro-Iran narrative for the gawking masses around the world. The propagandist influencers who have flocked to Iran are a key part of this cynical propaganda campaign by the mullahs’ regime.
What makes these influencers so odious is not their kowtowing to an authoritarian regime or their eagerness to betray their countries for the adulation of barbaric ideologues. Rather, the truly disgusting aspect of their trip to the Ayatollah’s funeral is their willingness to stand on the streets where thousands of people were murdered by the Islamic Republic mere months ago and desecrate the memory of those who died on behalf of human rights and freedom by openly celebrating the man and the regime that were responsible for some of the worst massacres in recent Iranian history.
These influencers, the products of open Western societies, have chosen not only to scorn all the privileges that Western society has afforded them but also actively keep the oppressed people of Iran from ever attaining the same rights that they have selfishly enjoyed their whole lives.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
